Opposition mounts for Parramatta Leagues Club’s planned $140m hotel
Opponents of Parramatta Leagues Club’s plans to build a $140 million hotel, aquatic, wellness and function centre to next to the Bankwest Stadium say it is out of character with nearby heritage buildings and will also create traffic problems.
First released two years ago, the club’s proposal for a 17-storey hotel that would sit between the existing leagues club building and a multi-storey carpark has seen more than 100 submissions made in response.
It would contain 209 rooms, a pool, conference facilities, gym and garden terrace with a bar.
Venues NSW, which runs neighbouring Bankwest Stadium, has strongly opposed it, arguing it would cause extra traffic on game and event days.
It wants the plans changed to make all hotel traffic enter and leave at the northern end of the leagues club’s site.
Parramatta Council has also called for a traffic assessment to “identify the impacts of the proposal on the local street network”, while the Heritage Council of NSW has concerns the high-rise hotel would cause overshadowing issues and lead to overdevelopment among heritage-listed buildings.
“These developments all have major implications for the world heritage-listed Parramatta Park and future World Heritage listing of the Female Factory,” North Parramatta Residents Action Group spokeswoman Suzette Meade said.
“This is the gateway to Parramatta. We’ve already got the stadium there and we don’t need a tower blocking out the sun of our only real green space in Parramatta.
“The local residents think it would be out of character to put in a heritage precinct.”
The leagues club is currently under the watch of administrator Max Donnelly, following the dismissal of the club’s board by the NSW Government over a salary-cap scandal.
Donnelly said he was “a bit confused” by some of the objections and was in the process of responding.
Sheridan Randall, 11th June 2019
